· Industrial Revolution - It
reached a high in the late 1800's, and writers began to look at the social
problems that it created.

· Darwin - With Darwin came
the idea that things can get better. The Darwinian idea that society could
be improved gained currency. There was also another Darwinian approach
that held to the survival of the fittest members of the species. People
were left behind economically because they were unfit & couldn't compete.
Darwin's theory also made it possible to explain the universe without reference
to the supernatural. The idea that people were another species rather than
a special creation increased the sense of lonliness and alienation among
many.

· World War I - It resulted
in the pacifism of England, France, and America, and the belligerence of
Germany in the 1930's. The losses were so great that the democracies
recoiled from war. Germany, on the other hand, felt betrayed and
falsely punished. Hitler played to these feelings to obtain power.

· Sigmund Freud - His psychoanalytic
studies caused writers to examine the world with deeper meaning.